


Hi Kendra!!!! (A Comprehensive Look at FFXV, for a friend)

by JackShit



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Author Commentary, Essays, Gen, Made for a friend, Spoilers, Swearing, actually tho much effort, and love me :'(, and many days, big time, comprehensive summary, critical analytical, hell yeah that's a tag now, hi kendra!!!, look at me I write fanfiction and cry, no beta we die like mem, pls read, sorry - Freeform, theories and summaries, this is literally just an essay, were put into this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22842319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackShit/pseuds/JackShit
Summary: A comprehensive and critical analytical look at final fantasy fifteen, or at least my best shot at it. Written for my best bro :))))
Kudos: 6





	Hi Kendra!!!! (A Comprehensive Look at FFXV, for a friend)

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: not all of these quotes have been written or remembered verbatim, and are rough ideas to the best of the author’s memory. Credit to any of the original ideas or theories mentioned in this essay, thank you for letting this essay build on them. Most bracketed text was meant for the one intended reader and friend of the author (wassup Kendra), before the author decided that this monster could be published.  
> Yeah so this is my ffxv rant ya yee  
> -Jack

So, you’ve become a final fantasy fifteen fan, now what? Well, to start, you need to appreciate just how much work and thought had gone into the development of both characters and plot. It did, after all, take TEN GODDAMN YEARS of planning and rewriting to finally come to the game we know and love. But where did that game start? Well, it started as all things start; really fucking good until some overthinking asshole had to ruin it. Before it was ‘Final Fantasy fifteen’, it was ‘Final Fantasy Verses Thirteen’. It started with Noctis, king of Lucis, kingdom of _death._ That’s right, we were cheated out of some good, original ideas. Anyways, in the original, Noctis was set to fall in love with Stella (later changed to Luna), and even to fight her. Prompto and Gladio were also set to betray Noctis. This was because Noctis was going to be the villain. This was changed, sadly, as the game would have had to claim the rating ‘mature’, and the developers thought that might narrow their target audience. Instead, they forged the idea of brotherhood and the bonds (cough, that gay) of friendship. Still, you can see remnants of the old game within the crevices of the new. The fact that the crystal requires a sacrifice of death, the death function on the ring, the fact that all the royal symbols pertain to black and skulls, to name a few. In the end, though, Tabata (the writer and creator) managed to make a game that could easily be loved and taken to. 

But what really makes this game _good_? Is it the plot, all holes and rewrites aside? The intricate world of Eos, built with intense lore? Or is it the functions, the game play? The answer is none of these. What makes this game good is its heart, and at its heart are the four main characters we know and love as Gladiolus, Ignis, Prompto and Noctis. And, naturally, the man that brings them so close, trash Jesus himself, Ardyn. I will also briefly touch on the female characters of the game, along with the overall plot. Also honorable mentions. Things keep getting added on the more I write oh God someone stop me-

Now, with the background and introduction done, let’s get into what makes these characters and their arcs so believable and heartfelt.

* * *

Gladiolus Amicitia. His name means ‘little sword’, and while it might be funny at first glance, it fits him quite well. First, let’s start with his backstory. From what we know, Gladio was raised in a rich household with his sister and father. It is assumed that his mother died either in childbirth or when Iris was very young. Either way, Gladio would have had to act both parts of brother and father. It is quite likely that Gladio would rarely see his father, as Clarus Amicitia was, to the end, Shield of the King. In addition to this, Gladio would have also had to accept from a young age that his father’s death may happen soon and at any time. From this perspective, it is quite easy to see why Gladio would be a brash, hard character. So fuck off with your mean words, Kendra. Gladio would have had to raise himself and his sister, and when he became Shield of the Prince, he would have had to prepare Iris for the possibility of his demise as well. 

From the start, Gladio has been trying to keep afloat in his responsibilities. It angers him when people, especially the man who will lead his country, show distaste or lack of caring for responsibilities. This explained, the rest of his character comes without question. Basically, he has his shit together, and heavily expects the people around him to do the same, because it _matters._ This makes his a sort of father-type character to the others. Tough love tempered by expectations and delivery. To Noctis, he is a trainer and protected, but also a friend that will keep his off his ass. To Ignis, he is someone who will stand beside him in a common (gay) agenda, to keep Noctis safe. His relationship with Prompto would be more complicated, but he’s probably in the same boat as Noct, someone who needs protection. 

This is all nice and good, but what about Gladio’s issues? Surely, despite him being the most put-together of the four, he must have his troubles? Maybe he’s too brash, and can’t hold and friends, or maybe is a womanizer (yes, but not too bad). His flaw may or may not surprise you, but it is the same as Prompto’s. Gladio’s character flaw is insecurity, and the fear of not being good enough. _But_ _Jack_ , you may be thinking, _he’s_ _a_ _pompous_ _dick-stick_. That he is, that he is. Remember back to when Ravus kicked his ass and shoved a sword up with his foot. Remembering? Good. That moment is _crucial_ in catching a glimpse into Gladio’s head. This shows us the unthinkable, that this character, this mountain of muscles, could not protect his charge. Gladio would have possibly died if Ardyn hadn’t shown up and put an end to the scuffle. And what does Gladio do? Well, he can’t stand to look in Noct’s face and see who he failed, so he runs. He finds the biggest, baddest, most challenging creature to fight, just to _prove_ that he’s good enough to serve Noctis. 

This point is expressed several times throughout his DLC. Gladio does win, in the end, but emerges with two additional painful-looking scars. These scars symbolize his insecurities and worries. They show the moments in time where he _wasn’t_ enough, where the enemy had the upper hand. But here is the awesome part about Gladio; he wears them with pride. He makes no attempt to cover them or put a fucking shirt on (goddamit) or even use a potion to heal them, he wears them like a flag of victory. He knows what he’s accomplished, and he has the wounds to prove it. He’s not ashamed of these scars, he wears them as a symbol of his growth. This is why the name ‘little sword’ fits him so well. It’s because no matter how big he is, how well he can protect, he will forever be out of his depth. Always the littlest sword in the greatest battle. And he rolls with that. He is self aware, self improving, and only desires to push others to greatness as well. He yells at Noctis, treats him pretty much like shit because it’s what he knows. What did he do when he felt helpless? He pushed himself to the point where he could have died. What does he do when Noct is helpless? Pushes him as hard as he can to put him back on track. It does not work, but it is what he knows will work for at least himself. He loves the others to death, but he is unable to show it in the way they may understand. This is why Gladio _is_ actually a complex, underrated character. He is overlooked in favour of the other three, whose character types and arcs are explained to us in detail. 

* * *

Next, we have Ignis Stupeo Scientia. His name meaning ‘Fire, Science and Strike’, roughly translated. Here’s what we know about Ignis’ past and childhood- next to nothing. The game tells us nothing about his parents, family, birthplace, _nothing._ From what I can gather, his accent comes from Tenebrae (where Luna was born), but not much else. We can assume he may have kept his childhood accent perhaps from homesickness, as he was enlisted to care for Noct when he was ten. From there he must have been taught to care for Noctis, and became extremely independent. A theory could be that Ignis was living in Tenebrae when Niflheim attacked (this is when Luna was taken and Ravus enlisted in the Niff army), and escaped after his family was killed, since we hear no mention at all of them. Another common theory is that Ignis’ uncle took him from Tenebrae to Insomnia in hopes of giving him a better life. For some reason, I’ve seen Ignis’ uncle mentioned in a multitude of fanfics that have no relation to one another, while Ignis does not canonically have an uncle. Coincidentally, Ignis’ uncle is almost always gay. So long story short, Ignis was trained to do _everything._ He’s a fighter, caretaker, magician, tactician, raised to be the advisor to the King. Being this close to your charge (in the anime that was released, we even see Ignis clean the room of a depressed Noctis), constantly around him and cleaning up after him would either make someone extremely murderous or extremely loyal. 

Thankfully for Noct, Ignis went with the latter. Ignis’ loyalty and devotion to Noctis makes up most of his character, in fact. All of his motivation has to do with ensuring Noctis’ safety and health. In episode Ignis, in the alternate ending, we see just how deeply this goes. Before Ignis dons the ring, he expresses to Ardyn this; ‘ _this world means nothing to me, do with it what you wish. But I will not let you take him_ [Noctis] _from me, even if it means_ [this]... _I cannot live in a world without him..._ ’. This is where we see the cracks in his character, and this is why Gladio is a more stable, well-off character. Ignis gives _no fucks_ about his own life or safety. He was raised, after all, to hold his own life in a lesser light than Noctis’. Now, many people will argue that the entire scene was too out of character for Ignis to really be considered. He was, after all, knocked out three times, kicked, punched, thrown and probably sporting something broken and concussed. To this, I argue that we see him do the same thing with the ring in both endings. Ignis has no concern for his own well-being, and we see this very rarely because he is not often put into situations where something so drastic must be sacrificed, as his capability prevents some pretty drastic situations. 

But now, Ignis goes blind, and this is where the game developers really did well. For one, Ignis does not magically get his vision back, he stays a disabled character throughout the whole game. Why is this good? Well, for one, it shows that the characters do not have plot armour, and it actually portrays disability quite well. Even in combat, we see Ignis stumble, fall, and lose a ton of health due to his injury. And yet, despite it all, he still has the will to see through his vow to Noctis to the end. It is amazing that he learned to fight and live on his own in the world of ruin while blind, and it might just be one of the best things the writers did for Ignis’ character arc. What is, after all, more ironic than an advisor who cannot see? And what is more compelling than a character who, despite the injurious problems hurled at him, decides not only to keep going, but to get stronger.

In the DLC set during the world of ruin, Comrades, you can spar Ignis on the side. His is the most difficult fight of the three bros. His special move is interesting as well. He stands completely still (I actually did have to search this up in order to learn how to beat him), and crosses his daggers in waiting. If you hit him while he is in this stance, or even move too close to him, he can kill you almost instantly. He can also hurl spells if you move too fast, in assumption that he hears you. Ignis is, by far, one of the most OP characters in the game. He’s smart, strong, adaptable and hot (that one’s for you, Kendra), but most of all, he’s _loyal._ He has a job, and by the Six, he will get it done. He is a fantastic choice for a favourite character, and has a lot of potential even for further development. His character arc is compelling and unexpected, and the choice made to keep him blind did not hinder him, only made him stronger. 

* * *

Prompto Argentum, meaning _quicksilver,_ which is an extraordinarily interesting choice in name, but sensible when thought about, and very clever. Prompto, in popular opinion, is easily the most complex character of FFXV. His bubbly, outgoing personality makes him immediately likeable or annoying, depending on who you ask. Again, we will start on his past. Prompto was a pudgy child who was raised (questionably) in an average looking house in Insomnia. His parents, while never seen, were assumed to be decent folk who just never paid mind to their boy. He was taken, as a baby, from Niflheim to Insomnia by an unknown person by age one. 

There are two theories on who took him. The first, and the most popular, is Cor. It is likely that he could have been on a mission spying on the Niffs for the king, and had found the horrible truths about the Magitek infantry. From there, he would have taken a child and bolted, maybe leaving in the hands of the foster system, or some friends close to the Crown. There are many issues with this theory, but because it’s so gosh darn cute (you can pry dad!Cor from my cold, dead hands), I won’t touch on them. 

The second theory is that Prompto’s foster father was the one to take him to Insomnia. There is a letter you can find in episode Prompto that was written around the time he was taken from the facility, from a scientist who was appalled by the practices of the Empire, and was wanting to leave ASAP. Could this have been the man who whisked Prompto away? This could also explain why the man was never around, maybe he wasn’t prepared for a child. It was never confirmed, either, that Prompto even had a mother, so this might be a viable theory.

A third theory, this one not quite related but on the topic of his mother, is that she is the Naga in the final dungeon on the quest for the Hexatheon’s blessing. We know that the Empire experimented on people to make daemons (it is spelled so fancy like that because this is a slight difference in the meaning- daemon meaning it started as a person, demon meaning from Hell), so what if one escaped? The naga takes Prompto, believing him to be her child. A few blogs have also pointed out the similarities in facial structure between her and Prompto as well, namely the characteristic slope of the brows and nose. What really sells the theory though, is the perfect _irony_ of the statement Prompto makes right after the naga is killed. _“If her ‘baby’ looks anything like her, I hope we never meet it’._ This is a perfect reflection of Prompto’s own self-hatred and struggle in the game, of his past, of his weight, of the enormous lack of self-worth. That and the fact that any one of the bros could have said that line, but it was Prompto who got the honor of delivering it (Please be proud of me I worked very hard on this theory).

So with those few tedious bits of origin out of the way, let’s talk about one of Prompto’s biggest struggles in the game, one that starts at the tender age of ten. Self-worth. To re-cap, Prompto found and saved Luna’s dog, Pryna, when she was on her way to deliver a message to Noctis (this, I think, is why Umbra does all the delivering, Pryna fucked it up). Luna, thinking that Prompto knew the dog through Noct, assumed that they were friends, and asked Prompto to take care of Noctis and stand by him. So Prompto makes to introduce himself, and while running up to a ten-year-old Noctis, trips and falls (haha, I know, I hear you snicker). While Noct tries to pull him up, he calls Prompto ‘heavy’. Then, he leaves with Ignis, and Prompto is left to repeat that word to himself. Many believe this is where the battle with anorexia starts. This theory may seem out of the blue and forced at first, but after I did some further investigating (for this essay, you’re welcome), I discovered that this theory is exactly right. It is not very uncommon, in Japan where the game was made, for eating disorders to be normalized, or even encouraged. So Prompto may already have, as a character, been thought of to be a little _too_ weight conscious. I’ve also talked to a few people who had suffered from eating disorders (specifically bulimia) who say they’ve noticed VERY obvious signs that Prompto may have one. To quote a few lines from the game; _“Heh, why is your face so fat, Prompto?/My face isn’t fat! Pictures just make it look that way!”_ and _”Who wants to hit up the crows nest?/If you wish to put on weight, certainly/*sighs* Yeah, I know.”_ and the one that really hits home, where Noctis is talking about high metabolisms and Prompto says “lucky”, Gladio makes a comment to lead off, but starts with _“body issues aside…”_. So the others must have some inkling about his drive to keep off weight. Prompto’s open defensiveness, alongside the fact that he was able to lose everything in five years, does not paint the best picture. Think about it, ten years old and told he’s fat. Doesn’t have parents around (from what we see in the anime) ever. Kid’s bound to go from one extreme of unhealthy eating to the next, with no one to tell him otherwise. Now, you could go many ways and have theories sprinkled on your theories for this one, but Prompto’s part is a long one, so I’ll cut it here.

Great! Now a newly toned and fit Prompto Argentum has just made friends with the prince. After five years of self-improvement (which is debatable) and hard work, he is finally good enough to talk to the crown prince. Somewhere in between him being fifteen and twenty, he became a royal retainer to Noctis, likely with short and limited training based on the time allotted. His weapon of choice, which is well-known, is a gun. This is a really interesting hint into Prompto’s origins. Not once in the game do we see a Lucian, or even an Altissian using a gun. This is because guns are the weapons of _Niflheim._ Whether you think it’s pre-programming genes or the game devs being sneaky, this was a super cool point to notice in the game, and it must have been super interesting for Prompto to be trained with a gun in Insomnia.

Prompto being an MT is the next thing I want to talk about. (Let me brag, Kendra, that about five hours into my first game playthrough, four years ago, I made a joke to my sister about Prompto hiding something under all those damn wristbands, and was more right than I’ll ever be again in my life). Why is this part of his character arc? Well, for one, it’s actually more subtly part of Noctis’ character arc, but I will talk about that in his paragraph. To summarize the long rant I have coming up now, Prompto being an MT was meant for Noctis to prove himself AND to get him to the crystal. All part of Ardyn’s grand plan of the ages. So if it was Ardyn who orchestrated this whole thing, what exactly did he do to Prompto in between moments of actual driven plot? What happened to Prompto, as he was strapped to that Y-frame? Let’s start with episode Prompto. Ardyn basically led Prompto to kill Verstael (his father and mad scientist) because Ardyn did not want Verstael (who had a lot of power in the Empire) getting in his way of destiny with Noctis. It is also theorized that Aranea was Ardyn the whole time, as it was odd how when one would appear, the other would disappear (check out [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKmi5xPHlLc ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKmi5xPHlLc) ), but for my own personal preference, I will assume that this is not true. So Prompto is there, again, only to drive forward Ardyn and Noctis’ arcs. Until, of course, Prompto is recaptured in Zegnautus keep. I’ll explain why later, but pretty much it would have worked better in Ardyn’s favour NOT to torture or harm Prompto. But he did, and while many of Prompto’s bruises can be explained away with his many snowmobile tumbles, the scars and bruising on his face, the red sores around his wrists, and even the faint redness on the back of his neck, cannot be. It is up to fanfiction and whump writers to discern exactly what went down between Ardyn and Prompto, but most of it can boil down to mind games. This is seen when Prompto (immediately after rescue) says to Noctis _“That’s why I told myself I couldn’t die… not until you told me that_ **_I’m the real me_ ** _.”_ . Now, many people agree that it’s likely Ardyn changed his face to torment Prompto, or even try making him believe that he’s just a pitiful clone, and not the prince’s best friend. Finally for Zegnautus, is the Y-frame. The slant forward, metal digging into ribs, raised arms and no footing amounts to a special form of torture (or even willful endurance, in some cases) that makes it extremely hard to breathe. When Ardyn taunts Noctis with _“I think he_ [Prompto] _has stopped breathing!”_ he really was not kidding. The hanging was also a reference to Ardyn’s past, but I’ll leave that for his paragraph. 

* * *

Finally of the bros is Noctis, the most important character of them all. Again, we will start with his past. From what we know, tragically, Noctis has always hated vegetables. He was also raised with the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders, along with a rapidly aging (due to the effects of the crystal and ring on Regis’ body) who was likely distant due to kingly duties. When he was eight years old, he was travelling by car with two Crownsguard and a woman (some theorize that this may have been his mother), with his father in a car behind him. The cars were attacked by a daemon (marilith) dropped on them by the Empire. Long story short, the daemon was slain by Regis, but not before Noct had to witness the death of what may have been his mother, and had been paralyzed from the waist down. Regis immediately seeks help from the oracle family of healers, the Nox Fleurets. Many times, he takes Noctis by wheelchair for healing from Lady Lunafreya, the twelve-year-old oracle. Over time, they develop a friendship. Before Noctis can be fully healed, though, the Empire (I know, those dicks again) swoops in, and Luna helps Noctis and Regis escape at the cost of her own freedom. Noctis, in the time following, manages to walk again, but since then, he and Luna could only communicate secretly in a notebook passed back and forth. Somewhere in that time, Regis would have also gifted Noctis with a Carbuncle figurine (remember him? Cute little fox-dude in the training course? Also that dude who saved me thirty times with Ruby Light, by the way. Fuck being underleveled). Carbuncle is a messenger of the gods, sent to protect Noctis in his sleep.

As Noct grows up, it is also quite clear that he starts to suffer from some form of depression. He is known to sleep constantly (escapism to his dreams in the worlds Carbuncle makes for him). He is antisocial, withdrawn and not friendly to people. He is outright rude and snarky to Ignis and Gladio for a long time, even when all they want to do is to help him. In the anime, we also see the general state of his apartment, which is a complete mess, the mess of someone who just couldn’t gather the energy to take care of it. I bring this up because of how real it makes his character. He isn’t just a prince and the chosen king, he’s Noct, who enjoys fishing and cannot stand the idea of sacrifice, especially on the behalf of those close to him. With this attitude, we start to see (very VERY early on) Gladio getting fed up with Noct’s shit. Now, we know from Gladio’s perspective why he was such an asshat before, but what about Noctis? His actions are completely valid and reasonable too. He knew, from a very young age, what being the king means. It means holding up a wall that will only sap his life force. It means having to attend meetings that, while boring, could mean life or death for a kingdom. It means accepting the perilous positions of those who get close to him, and being prepared to deal with that loss. In the game, we see Noctis as a rather disinterested and dismissive person, one who does not think much of anything or anyone. Even his marriage to Luna is expressed outright in a series of ‘mehs’. The reality is much the opposite. Noctis would be experiencing an excess of all the emotions he seems to be lacking, and we only see this in brief moments after great tragedies. He just does not know how to properly express himself. He is the prince, and he is meant to uphold a certain standard of control, and he does this by isolating himself from those he cares about, and tries to remain indifferent to the situation at hand. 

This is why putting on the ring was so painful for him. That symbolized Noctis finally accepting not only his role as king, but everything that has and has yet to happen. This is him accepting every single emotion he has cast aside and ignored, all at once, in order to become the king he needs to be. 

So we’ve established that Noct was a lonely boy. In fact, up until he entered the first year of highschool, his friends extended only to Ignis and Gladio. That is until Prompto shows up, and it’s probably the best thing to happen to him (not just saying this because Prompto’s my favourite). At the time, Noctis was given his own apartment from Regis, who wanted him to lead as normal a life as possible before fate would take him away. At some point as well (if Noctis owned an apartment at fourteen, then we’ll put this even while he was in highschool) he held a job at a popular sushi restaurant, as reveals a piece of dialogue when you pass the sushi place in the world of ruin. Why is Prompto important? Well, Prompto was the final piece in the puzzle for this ordinary life Noct has tried to make. In school, he had found it difficult to make friends on the account of his status as crown prince, but Prompto was there solely to act as Noct’s friend. He was there to maintain the illusion of normalcy, as sad as that is. Many works in this fandom have lots of fun playing with the shenanigans they would get up to, from the arcade to skipping class, it’s really interesting and entertaining to see a clone and a prince try being regular teenagers, and I recommend checking them out.

One criticism I do have is about Noctis’ reaction to Prompto’s origins. Now, anything over the top would have been out of character, but the dialogue and monotonous cheery outcome ended up looking like Noct (along with the others) had already been privy to Prompto’s secret. I’m not saying he should have been scandalized like a nun in a brothel, just that there should have been some sort of confusion, shock, or even argumentative disbelief before acceptance. 

It’s also very hard to write this bit on Noctis, because I find that people with interpret especially him more differently, as you play as him, and you directly control his actions. This is why I don’t think this section should be as long as it could be, as the player feels specifically a certain personal attachment to him (favourite character or not) that comes with hours of jumping, sprinting, fighting and dying as Noctis. That sort of attachment makes no in depth theories and emotional explanations universal, because Noctis is the player.

There are some other interesting bits in the game. Like Angelguard, actually. Kendra, I believe I explained this one but I can’t quite remember, so here we go. Angelguard is a prison, the same prison where _Ardyn was chained and left to rot for 2000 years._ This symbolizes two things. One: it is meant to remind Noctis that he is still bound to the crystal, a prisoner of fate and a slave to the big boi god himself. Two: it is also meant to represent the both Ardyn and Noct have been chained in fate, sometimes literally. They’ve both done their time, and they both must finish their prison sentences. The only issue with this is that there is no guarantee that Noct would know that this prison in particular was home to Ardyn at some point. Then of course, he went and faced his death with his head held high. He perished both in life and in the crystal, and it is debatable if his physical body dissolved with the ring or if he was left pinned to the throne for someone to find. Either way, it is a truly heartbreaking end to the story.

* * *

Now it’s Ardyn’s turn. A surprise to most, he did start out as a healer. He was the first king of Lucis, and the older brother of a man named Somnus. Ardyn was gifted with the blessing of the crystal, but, upon touching it, he was made unwillingly immortal. His body had actually been deteriorating from the many acts of healing he had done, similar to Luna. Where he had taken the disease, known as the Starscourge, into his own body. Because of his perceived daemonic-ness and newfound immortality (and of course Somnus’ jealous ass finding out that the Crystal had not chosen him as king), Ardyn’s little bro banished him to Angelguard, where he was rather gruesomely hung up with hook piercing his bare torso (the Crystal when you find it in chapter thirteen). And, like Prompto, he was strung with his arms raised, most of his weight on them. He is then found, two thousand years later, by one Verstael Besithia, Prompto’s biological father. Please never search up Besithia and Ardyn in any tags together. Verstael gets Ardyn to demonify Ifrit, and the fire god becomes Ardyn’s little bitch. Ardyn now works with Verstael in with the Empire, yadda yadda yadda… Episode Ardyn in those parts really was not that deep but I’d play the DLC anyway. 

Oh yeah, there was also some confusion over the death of his betrothed, Aera. Episode Ardyn tells it as if Somnus killed her, in a fit of rage. Some might think that it was Ardyn himself, piercing her with his infamous dagger. I disagree with both, I do not think she died at all. Remember, we have an unreliable narrator here, as it is Ardyn who is telling the story. I think that, before he was banished, Aera was wed to Somnus as the queen to his king. I think that Ardyn could not emotionally cope with that story, so he blamed Somnus in a fantasy of betrayal. I also think he blames himself for her betrayal, because he wasn’t good enough for her or the crystal. But that’s just a theory, and it, without proper evidence (evidence that I’m too lazy to write about, lest we end up with another essay), can sound quite far-fetched. Anyway.

The important bit of all this is; Ardyn was still basically _good_ after his time in Angelguard. Confused, hurt, but after a good rest, also very docile. What changed him was the thirty years before he met Noctis. After realizing that Ardyn could no longer heal, he found his new power, which was to daemonify. The downfall of this was that he would also suck up the souls and memories of his victims, to the point where he could no longer tell who he himself was anymore. Is this not a good reason as to why Ardyn can change his face? The one thing he held onto, without fail, was his hatred for the brother who locked him away and erased him from the history books. Somnus, who looks almost identical to the chosen king of yore, Noctis (literally god’s little joke). It is no wonder why he exhibited such malice to Noct, in this case. 

However killing Noctis is not his sole motive. In fact, I don’t think it’s even his main motive. Yes, he wants revenge for what happened to him. Yes, wiping out his own bloodline would get the job done. And _yes_ punching a face that looks exactly like the man who betrayed you would be extraordinarily satisfying. Yes, this is true, but it is not Noctis’ death Ardyn wants. It’s his own. Ardyn’s curse is living. Living past the murder of his betrothed. Living through his brother’s death, plus two thousand years. Living from being the first king, to watching the rise and fall of the 113th (Regis). The worst part is that Ardyn has no choice in the matter. He has to live in order to bring about (it really is not his fault) the darkness and the scourge. Ardyn, the entire time was trying to convince Noctis to kill him, by being the worst villain he possibly could. From blinding Ignis to orchestrating the fall of Insomnia to lying and killing Luna and torturing Prompto to the darkness, Ardyn really did it all. I don’t have time to explain how much fucking effort the game devs put in doing this, because Jesus Christ it is _a lot,_ but luckily I don’t have to. ( [ https://eirenare.tumblr.com/post/174791062232/ffxv-ardyns-limp-a-potential-explanation ](https://eirenare.tumblr.com/post/174791062232/ffxv-ardyns-limp-a-potential-explanation) this is the shortened version, but it does have the link to the 13000 word doc. Honestly, my essay is a limp dick compared to the effort and thought in this one, please check it out). What I want to essentially draw from that is the fact that Ardyn wished to seem inhuman. Let’s say that what the docs said is right (it is) and Ardyn had a fucked leg, his attempt to hide it only made it easier for Noct to complete his mission and kill Ardyn. This whole thing is that Ardyn wanted to die quickly and with no remorse, a final punishment and relief from punishment.

A side note, based off this whole thing with Ardyn’s bad leg. That real creepy scene where Ardyn reaches forward to caress Prom’s face? Not intentional. His positioning and movement all suggest that he had locked up his leg, then fell forward, catching himself just in time. And, like the dramatic dude we all know him to be, he covered this up with a sweep of his hand under Prompto’s chin. While this may seem strange, it was actually an interesting move. Not only is he putting treacherous doubt into the minds of the bros, but he’s also making a clear hinted gesture at Prompto, as if Prompto is someone he not only recognizes, but is friendly enough with to initiate that sort of contact, almost as if he knows some _things_ that remind him of Prom. (Hint: clones clones clones).

So yeah, that’s basically Ardyn in a nutshell. There are only a few questions left in terms of his character actions in terms of what makes the most sense. What happened to him after he died? What did he do in the ten years of darkness? And what did he do to Prompto?

Let’s start with the boring one. So, we see Ardyn obliterated in the crystal, where Noct as well dissolves into the afterlife. So Noctis gets his ‘happily ever after’ (bullshit, if you ask me) and Ardyn gets… we don’t actually know. Personally, I like to think that he gets to rest with his lady love, Aera, but probably not. The poetic grace is his story is that he was forgotten, forgotten in turmoil and pain and desperation. When he is forgotten again, it is now in rest, with the promise of a story not soon to leave the minds of men. He will be remembered as the villain, forever. It is sad, but it does also fit within the depressing outlines of the game itself. Maybe Ardyn did care, once, about if or how he would be remembered (“ _Erase me from history once more…”_ ), but when it came down to it, he’d take peace over anything else.

The world of ruin is my favourite era in FFXV. It has so much potential for not only character growth, but plot and world building and angst. So what the fuck was Ardyn doing? Well, it’s pretty clear that he spent most of his time brooding away in Insomnia, on the throne. Ten years must be like ten minutes to the man, after all. He did say he would keep the bros company in the years of waiting for Noct to wake the hell up (c’mon man…), but how far did he go? This is pretty much fan fiction domain from here on out, but I can’t help but think Ardyn wouldn’t do very much. See’s one of the bros in Insomnia? Sure, he’d pull some shit. One of them seeks him out for answers? Hoo boy, that’s some angst. One of them looks to be in trouble in a life-or-death situation? Yeah, he’d save them so they could stay the holy companions of the chosen. But I don’t think he’d ever go out of his way for that. His mind is solely on Noctis, on waiting for the end. He does not give two shits about what the others are doing, he only cares about the day he gets to die. The bros barely mention him after Noct gets back, like he’s the least of their worries in the long, daemon-filled night.

Last, but not least, is Zegnautus keep. While this could go in Prompto’s paragraphs, I want to focus less on what Prompto went through and more on what Ardyn did to him, if you know what I mean. Here’s what’s pretty clear; Prompto, somewhere on his journey to Zegnautus keep, was knocked out (scars on forehead and nose) and strung up as bait in the keep. Yes, Noctis was already heading there for the Crystal, but Ardyn wanted to give him a little more motivation to get there quick. There is an unknown time gap in between Prompto being pushed off the train and him being rescued from the Keep. For the purpose of decisive clarity, we’ll put his time in the Keep at about a week. It was long enough, of course, for Prompto to be barely congnant and awake by the time Noct finds him. Ardyn did want to keep Prompto alive (him being one of the holy companions and all), but that does not mean he couldn’t have a little fun in the meantime. Right off the bat, I do not think the abuse and violence Prompto endured was physical. Any bruises and scrapes (save for those around his wrists, that was from the Y-frame) can be attributed to his many tumbles off the snowmobile. Ardyn is smart enough to realize that Prompto could likely endure much physical pain, given his genes and power of will. So he did two things; starved him and fucked with his head. I won't get too into this, but I think it’s possible that Ardyn knew about Prom’s life in Insomnia, and possibly about his struggles with anorexia. Starvation would not only make Prompto physically vulnerable, but emotionally as well. That is where Ardyn starts to break down Prom’s defenses. From there, well, we know Ardyn can change his face. It was enough to make Prompto question if he was really real, of course. Past that I’ll leave it to fan fiction.

* * *

So those are all the main characters out of the way, but… do you notice something missing? I do. _Female fucking characters._ Man, they really fucked over the ladies of FFXV. And yes, I am mostly talking about Lady Lunafreya, you know the one. Let’s start with her, shall we? First off, let me say I absolutely love Luna and will forever love her as a character, I really don’t think there were any issues with how she was written. She was a badass Oracle. The problem was how she was treated. The Lady in distress. The Lady in capture. The Lady who serves the King. I mean, yeah, her relationship with Noct could be super cute, _if they built on it more._ What were they? Childhood friends who barely communicated by notebook (look at it, it’s pretty much empty) for a few years, and then they were betrothed. They don’t know each other anymore, and her entire connection with him is that she must help him complete his calling. This being said, her calling was also super cool because she got to show how strong she could be. She gave her life for the world, for the gods. She was dying before Ardyn stabbed her, and look at what she did to Leviathan. I just wish they included more of her childhood under Niflheim. Caligo was the one looking after her, and punished her with hitting on what we assume to be regular occasions. That would have built more on her character other than one motive to help Noctis. She expresses almost none of her feelings in the game. I do wish they went through with giving her a DLC.

Next big female character is Aranea, my wife. Again, a little more backstory would have been great, which is why I’m more angry they canceled her DLC than I am with Luna’s. All in all, I think Aranea’s character arc was pretty cool, and I know not to expect much because she is just a side character. At least she was not killed off is all I can really say. I also found her role in episode Prompto to be really awesome, and they picked the best character to go with him on his journey. What is better, after all, than one person to another feeling a disconnect from their origins? Don’t get me wrong, I think Aranea has a fierce love for Niflheim, for the people (hence why she started search and rescue) and does with pride. The cool thing about her is that she has the guts to stand up against the figurehead of all that and do the right thing, a truly strong character. To add on, I also love her relationship with BIggs and Wedge. Honestly, I need more content of the three of them doing shit and stuff ([ https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428880/chapters/54556339 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428880/chapters/54556339) just lemme self promote here hahaaa).

We also were graced with the brightly aggravating character of Iris Amicitia. To be clear, I did not like Iris at all. She is basic, stereotypical, not fleshed out, and only serves as a plot device (almost as much as Jared, the poor bastard). Man, the only time I got excited when she was mentioned was at the end, when we are told she has become ‘Iris the daemon slayer’. Even then, we don’t get to see or interact with the woman we are told she becomes. She was just a stereotyped teenage girl. And to be fair, we know sixteen-year-olds can be annoying, and that it’s part of growing up. The problem is that when you have a game with already so little diversity, you cannot afford to fuck up the few characters who are ‘diverse’. So how did the game make up for it? The power plant of course! Where women and _only_ women are allowed to work. Now, I’m sure you can see many, many problems with that, but word count is-a climbing so I’ll just boil it down to this; _Why?_ . To balance out the overwhelming misogyny and dominant masculinity, naturally! But back to my original point, Iris is not a likeable character. She is no one’s favourite, and was not intended to be (despite being the sibling of a main character). Maybe you picked up on me writing that I _DID not_ like Iris. I had to make the conscious choice to decide to like her, just to say fuck you to the writers of her. So yeah, good going, guys.

Kendra, I know what you may be thinking now. Where is Cindy (and her boobs)? So I don’t have a lot on Cindy other than ‘she has no personality really and is fanservice’. Okay, but I still absolutely fucking love her. Her story was actually written in the game (I know, I was shocked too. I didn’t have to search three animes and a documentary to know what was going on), and it’s pretty simple, but cool. Her parents had died in a car after being attacked by daemons when she was very young. This adds a lot of weight now onto the quests where she gets you to bring her parts for a safer car. So yeah, she’s pretty alright (take that sentence how you wish).

Oh, and just a last-minute add on to the attrocious diversity in the game was the complete lack of people of colour. Now, I understand that this was made in Japan, and 97.8% of people living in Japan are Japanese, but they did show that they were capable of including that, and the lack of diversity in Japan is not an excuse for it in the game. We only have two POC, after all. Weskham, who rolled with Regis back in the day, is actually pretty chill. Even if he has minimum impact on the plot and is barely memorable. And, my boy, Takka. The guy who runs Takka’s Pit Stop in Hammerhead, who was apparently once a no-good backstreet criminal until Cid took him in and gave him a life. Do what you want with this information, Kendra, but as a POC watching it… it did not give me good vibes.

Christ how did this get so long holy shit okay. It’s plot time, babyyyy. May I start this by saying, the plot is bad. It’s all over the place, not paced well, has gaps and leaves players extremely confused at times (like this essay). To season this bland steak, the characters were the salt and pepper to everything the game ended up being, and the reason why it’s so loved. But yeah, the plot is a little lacking.

So the first thing the game does, after giving this lovely open world (and a thirty minute open scene, really guys) is YEET US RIGHT INTO THE FUCKIGHN PLOT READY BOYS LETS GOOOOO. Yo man your dad is DEAD. Your girl is DEAD. You are DEAD. And it doesn’t give us much time to process that, or really feel anything other than confusion at the political mess that is Insomnia and Niflheim. A mess that was totally avoidable, but for plot reasons blah blah blah Regis had to die and sacrifice everything. We don’t even get Gladio grieving his father, which I’m pissed about, by the way. 

Next we get a whole schwackload of gods? It’s not even properly explained in the game, and the player is not only expected to watch the anime, but also watch a full feature film AND maybe read the manga AND play the DLCs. Basically, fuck you Square Enix, we see your attempt at a money grab, and while it’s working, we don’t like it. We also get thrown into the plot of the Armiger and the royal arms, which are kinda cool but could have been explained better rather than an info dump by Cor. Also how Luna has the trident of the oracle is not explained. 

Anyhoo we move along, killing the enemy and destroying bases, but the four don’t actually have much of a spoken plan, and seem to follow wherever the road may take them. I mean, they do have the goal to get to Altissia, _eventually,_ but don’t actively seek to achieve this until deciding they need a very convenient boat. Now, having an unspoken plan or following wherever the wind may blow can be great, but not when you are a prince who just saw the destruction of your home along with everything else- it seems a little odd that Noctis wouldn’t immediately jump to action in a sort of rush to take down the Empire. 

All that aside, we get a sort of mixed-up, half-formed and unfinished plot in the final game. This was, of course, due to the ten years of development it went through, things are bound to get muddy. All in all, it was a classic ‘Chosen One Prince and his journey to save the girl’ sort of game, and after all the wait time, it should have been kind of a dissapointment.

But it was not. And this wasn’t just because of the characters, although they are the main attraction of the game. It was the ending, the ultimate sacrifice. Noctis, the man you play as, move, put yourself into. To watch him grow and die in the way he did was just… heartbreaking. I shed more than a few manly tears at the end of this thing. It sucked, but man was it such a beautiful end to a long journey. Noctis dies, like his father. It is assumed that Prompto, Ignis and Gladio also perish soon after (appearance in the Crystal and no scenes of them reacting to the dawn). Together in life and death. Man, despite all faults, for a game to make you feel, really _feel,_ then there’s something to say for that. For this reason, I am not going to nitpick every problem. Go watch GameSins or something.

* * *

Now it is about to get juicy. Ships, people! Ships! Ships everywhere! With everyone! And everything! When a fandom is around long enough, people can get around to shipping every possible thing, and FFXV is no exception. This is why I am going to skip over ships with the four bros, because you know they have been shipped with everything within a five mile radius of themselves. To start with the rare great ones, there is Cindy/Aranea, Cindy/Luna, Ignis/Aranea (ok I know what I just said and I don’t ship it but c’mon power couple) and Ardyn/Besithia. Yeah, I know how that last one sounds but also… play episode Ardyn the gay subtext is off the fucking charts. There are, also, some fucking weird ships, such as; Regis/Clarus, Luna/Leviathan, Cor/Iris Iris/Talcott and so on. This is not, by any means, to say that these ships are at all bad. In fact, they can be super fun and cool, so I’m not trying to shit on them. They’re just odd rarities. 

With that out of the way, I can now bring up the ship I really want to talk about. Noctis and Luna. I mean, okay, it’s cute. If they were able to build on it more in the game, I’d probably ship it. BUT. The Kingsglaive movie destroyed all hope of this when they introduced the suave, cocky, hero character we know and love as Nyx Ulric (I mean, look at him [ https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Nyx_Ulric ](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Nyx_Ulric)). This mans literally came in and fucked shit up and also probably could have had the girl at the end if the writers were not such cowards. They had more chemistry in an hour of screen time that Noct and Luna did in eight years. Basically what I’m trying to say is leave Noct alone to pursue Prompto and let. Luna. Be. HAPPY. It would have been so cool for her character to say ‘fuck you fate’ and go with Nyx instead. Give her personality! Anyway, imma just be angry in the corner for a second. Goddammit. 

Oh oops just real quick here, because you will learn to love and support Gladio/Ignis, the writer of the game stated that the two of them ‘have a special and deep sort of bond’. I don’t think that there is any direct translation to English for the word he used, but it’s love, Kendra. It’s love.

* * *

_~Honorable Mentions~_

You know where this is going. Pitioss. Fucking. Ruins. Now, I don’t have much to say other than long streams of swearing and moments of pure desolated sobbing (but I will spice it up with the fact I passed that fucker three times), so I will try to keep it brief. Pure agony and dented walls aside, Pitioss ruins was actually a much deeper, story-telling, experience than what people took from it at face value. To summarize, it is a story of the old gods. It is about Ifrit, chasing his dead lady love (Etros, I believe), a mortal woman who had her soul condemned to hell. He journeys down to her, facing challenges and puzzles and UNBELIEVABLE AGONY CHRIST MAKE IT END PLEAS-- only to find her strung up and dead in the center of a room. As the player, you also find a shiny that contains ‘Genji Gloves’ on her belly button. This is meant to symbolize her being pregnant with twins. Furthermore, it is theorized that these twins were in fact Ardyn and Somnus, who were fathered by Ifrit and mothered by a mortal. Not only does this explain why Ardyn is able to daemonically control Ifrit so easily, but it also means that Noctis is part summon. This information is only to the best of my memory, so for the full thing PLEASE check out this video ([ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh0GRk_yGyM ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh0GRk_yGyM)) for the full thing, it is extremely interesting and includes a lot of facts I left out. But just to indulge and let myself rant just a little, let me say this; the controls in Final Fantasy Fifteen were not meant , and will never be meant for fine motor movements. You move the joystick a little, Noct yeets himself off a fucking cliff. Rinse and repeat. Yes, it was cool and difficult and nice, but the developers did not think that part through. I’m getting flashbacks to it now- I’ll get nightmares. This section is done.

The final really important bit is about what the game could have had. Quite recently, Square Enix made an announcement stating that four DLCs were to be released, calling forth a new, brighter, happier ending than the one we were given in the first game. This has two problems. One, it negates completely the finality and impactfulness of the first ending, one where sacrifice is needed and love costs everything. And two, three out of the four were canceled. What we got was the trainwreck that was episode Ardyn, and as fun as it was to play, it was messy and felt dry and unfinished, even rushed out. It had no concern about the lore built in the game, and it felt like it should have had a bigger impact in the whole game itself, but did not. It was just thrown in there for what felt like a weak final money grab. It was, sadly, supposed to be a piece in a much bigger puzzle, though. I’ll get to that in a second.

So the second much-awaited DLC set to come out was episode Luna. From what I understand, it was meant to be about her life as she worked in and grew up under the thumb of the Empire. So not only would it give the fans needed character development and building on Luna, but also would have been and different take on how the DLCs in FFXV are usually done. Save for the absolute stupidity of episode Gladio. So they canceled the chance at the spotlight for the most important female character (arguably the most important generally) in the game, great job guys.

The next I was pretty upset about, as we were supposed to also get an episode Aranea. This one was going to be a little deeper than Luna’s, as it introduced a whole new character entirely. Long (looong) story short, Loki had hid in his armor a young girl who was going to help bring back the dawn after long darkness. I think she was like a sun oracle or goddess or something like that. Anyway, she was passed off to Aranea, and the DLC was going to be the two of them trying to get out somewhere safe, which could have been very neat indeed.

Finally was the confusing episode Noctis. Confusing because, well, wasn’t the main game his episode? Yes but actually no. Remember that alternate, happy ending I talked about? Episode Noctis was going to bring together episodes Ardyn, Aranea and Luna, in which they stand up against the god of gods, Bahamut, and take him down. In this version, Bahamut is the bad guy. I think he was meant to be, or should have been, the boss fight in the main game as well. He is the Draconian, and after a brief, yet informative search on what ‘draconian’ meant exactly, I found that it had its root not in translation, but in definition. A draconian law is a law that is unnecessarily hard, unfair, and unforgiving. This is like the task Noct was given in the main game, the blood price that he should have had no part in. This really brings us back to the theory on Pitioss. Did Bahamut also want the Lucius Caelum line obliterated because he did not want to allow them to have godly blood anymore? It makes sense. That is, after all, why Etros was sent to hell and why Ifrit may have been ostracized. This entire idea would have been extremely interesting to explore, especially with the lore the was so hatefully packed into Pitioss ruins. Also the fact that apparently there was going to be a motorcycle scene with Aranea and Luna, and goddamn that would have been so badass. This is sad, now I’m making myself sad. 

* * *

So that was a lot. Man, if you got through this all, thank you, and holy shit how’d ya do it bro I am not even editing this fucking beast. If I missed anything, apologies, and I will probably end up ranting to you about it on the bus later, so it doesn’t even matter. To conclude, Final Fantasy Fifteen is only what you put into it. The effort to understand and invest in a universe as convoluted as this takes work and dedication, but I think it is really worth it in the end. It adds layers of respect and understanding, being able to take the game with all its faults and mistakes and loving it anyway. But most of all, I think that this game feels real. Not in a world building sense- but in its characters. They are full and complex (most of them) and relatable and most of all, compelling. They are compelling enough that you can throw them into even the driest coffee shop AU and still enjoy it just because they are the ones in it. Yeah, I know you hate coffee shop AUs but c’mon they’re so _cute-_ And now, after ten thousand words, I think my work here is done. Thank you for reading, Kendra, and I look forward to your essay on The Wall.

**Author's Note:**

> So if anyone got to the end of this without skimming (or even with skimming, honestly) congratulations. Please tell me what you think, argue with me, or add on anything in the comments!


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